November 2019: The technical staff’s perceptions after visiting the Shire camps

Visit to the Shire camps

Last November, a team comprised of technical staff from Iberdrola and Signify visited the four refugee camps where Alianza Shire is working to provide access to energy, for both the camps and local communities.

During this visit, the technical specialists had the opportunity to meet with staff from the Ethiopian Electric Utility to verify the technical design, and more specifically, the design of the lines that will be extended in the camps.

 

Allianza’s Team

Valentín Pérez of Iberdrola believes that a key part of the project design could be carried out with materials currently being used in Spain. “We are familiar with the performance and quality of the pylons, poles, and the different types of cables, etc. In this regard, we can guarantee the reliability, quality and longevity of the electric grid that will be installed in the future.”

Eduardo Ruiz, a technical specialist from Signify, offered another possibility: “This can be done by determining which elements (posts, fittings, etc.) are available in the camps, and how we can integrate them into our project.”

 

After visiting the camps, another aspect that was highlighted by both technical specialists is the importance of the refugee population’s sense of ownership of the facilities.

“In most cases, the private electric generators that we observed were in perfect condition, in contrast to the lack of maintenance of the general electric grid,” says Valentín.

Several participatory workshops were held in November with the refugee population and local communities in order to determine the priority lighting areas.

The visits by the technical staff have also helped determine which machinery might be necessary, in addition to what was previously included at the start of the project, such as platforms, cranes or compressors.